Thanksgiving racing notes

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYBODY!

Rockingham Speedway to hold Modified 

exhibition prior to Saturday?s Polar Beat 150

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. (November 25, 2010) ? Before the cars of the Frank Kimmel Street Stock Nationals (FKSSN) take to Rockingham Speedway this Saturday, Nov. 27, the race fans in attendance will get to witness something truly unique to the one-mile oval.

At 12:30 p.m. there will be special exhibition of open-wheeled Modifieds (like the cars raced at Bowman-Gray Stadium and featured in the History Channel show ?Mad House?) prior to the green flag of the Polar Bear 150.

?The Modifieds are just such cool race cars and have such a tremendous cult following. We?ve had some tests on the track and the cars handle well here,? said Rockingham Speedway president Andy Hillenburg. ?The exhibition before the Polar Bear will be something new for our race fans and, who knows, the Modifieds could find themselves on Rockingham Speedway?s schedule for 2011 and beyond.?

Cars take to the track on Nov. 27 for practice at 9 a.m. for practice. European-style qualifying follows at 11 a.m. The green flag goes in the air at 1 p.m. for the Polar Bear 150. Tickets are still available by calling the speedway office at 910.205.8800 or by going online to www.rockinghamspeedway.com.

ARCA Racing Series Aligns with Talladega, Chicagoland, 

Kansas for Companion Event Weekends

(TOLEDO, Ohio) - Continuing its history of racing alongside NASCAR's three premier touring divisions, the ARCA Racing Series has announced three additional dates for the 2011 race season.

Talladega Superspeedway will host the series on Friday, April 15 to open a weekend of NASCAR Nationwide Series and Sprint Cup Series action, and Kansas Speedway will do the same on Friday, Oct. 7 before its event weekend in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Chicagoland Speedway will welcome ARCA on Saturday, June 4 as the first event of a same-day doubleheader with the Nationwide Series.

Notably, the Chicagoland event aligns with the Nationwide Series for the first time, and moves from its former slot in late August or early September. In 2009 and 2010, the event had taken place on the same day as a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event at the Joliet, Ill. track.

Additionally, the Kansas event date moves back to a Friday, where it had been situated in 2007. The series' races at the Kansas City, Kan. track in 2009 and 2010 had taken place on Thursdays.

"These three tracks are great facilities in great markets, and speak to the long-standing relationship between ARCA and the International Speedway Corporation tracks, which dates back to ARCA's first race at Daytona in 1964. This is a real opportunity for our teams and drivers to be on track during the high-visibility ISC race weekends," said Ron Drager, president of ARCA.

"Our relationship with these tracks is continually evolving, as evidenced by Kansas moving our race from a Thursday afternoon to a Friday evening and expanding our potential audience, and Chicagoland offering this opportunity for us to run with the Nationwide Series."

Talladega has hosted 48 previous ARCA Racing Series races, with the most recent race won by rookie Dakoda Armstrong in April. Grant Adcox is ARCA's all-time leading winner on the 2.66-mile superspeedway oval, with five wins. Davey Allison and Tim Steele each won four times at the historic Alabama track, which hosted ARCA for the first time in 1969.

Chicagoland and Kansas - both 1.5-mile ovals - have hosted 10 ARCA Racing Series eventsPatrick Sheltra apiece since each opened in the summer of 2001. Current series champion won at Chicagoland in August to take his second victory of 2010, and rising star Ty Dillon won for the first time in his ARCA Racing Series career at Kansas in September.

The following race dates for the 2011 ARCA Racing Series schedule have already been announced:

Feb. 12 - Daytona International Speedway

May 1 - Salem Speedway

June 11 - Pocono Raceway

June 17 - Michigan International Speedway

June 25 - Winchester Speedway

Aug. 6 - Pocono Raceway

Sept. 17 - Salem Speedway

The remainder of the schedule will be released shortly. Meanwhile, the thrilling 2010 campaign will close Saturday, Dec. 4, with the series' Championship Awards Banquet at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center in Covington, Ky., near Cincinnati.

Two at the Triangle for 25th Consecutive Year;

ARCA Announces Pocono Dates for 2011 Season

(TOLEDO, Ohio) - Pocono Raceway, the 2.5-mile triangular track in Long Pond, Pa., will host the ARCA Racing Series for two event dates in 2011, continuing a strong relationship which stretches back to 1969. As is tradition, the ARCA Racing Series will twice be featured as a companion event to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

The season's first race at Pocono - an 80-lap, 200-mile event - is scheduled for Saturday, June 11. The second event - scheduled for 50 laps, or 125 miles - will take place Saturday, Aug. 6 in conjunction with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race that day. Both events take place one day before NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.

"Pocono Raceway is an integral part of our series, with superspeedway speeds and short track and road course turns," said Ron Drager, president of ARCA. "When a driver is transitioning from a short track career to superspeedway racing as many of our drivers do, Pocono is often the track to do just that. It's a great place for someone to run their first superspeedway race."

"Racing at Pocono takes on special significance because of our long-term relationship with the Mattioli family, especially Dr. Joseph and Rose (Mattioli) as well as Brandon and Nick Igdalsky, third generation family members in track management. In addition, the track's location near major East Coast markets is important to our series."

2011 will be the 25th consecutive year that ARCA has contested two annual races at Pocono Raceway. Bob Schacht won both races at the track in 1987, the first year that ARCA scheduled two races on the "Tricky Triangle." This season's events will be the 52nd and 53rd for the ARCA Racing Series on the 2.5-mile oval at Pocono Raceway. Craig Goess won the 50th in June, and Robb Brent followed that with a win in July's race, the first 50-lap event for ARCA at the track.

Nick Igdalsky, the senior vice president of the track, raced a full season in the ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards for the first time in 2010 and finished the year 13th in overall driver points. Igdalsky spoke about his unique connection as executive and competitor.

"This is a tradition, and something we always look forward to doing every year. There's that personal date in some of our hearts with ARCA, and we've been associated with the series from very early on," Igdalsky said. "We plan on having ARCA accompany every race we have at Pocono."

Tim Steele is the all-time wins leader at Pocono with nine (including five consecutive from 1996-98), and he is closely followed by Schacht (six) and Bob Keselowski (five). Familiar names like Ryan Newman and Joey Logano dot the winner list.

Races at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 12, Michigan International Speedway on June 17, Salem Speedway on May 1 and Sept. 17, and Winchester Speedway on June 25 have already been announced, and the remainder of the diverse 2011 ARCA Racing Series schedule will be released shortly. Meanwhile, the thrilling 2010 campaign will close Saturday, Dec., with the series' Championship Awards Banquet at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center in Covington, Ky., near Cincinnati.

Source: http://the-auto-racing-journal.blogspot.com/2010/11/thanksgiving-racing-notes.html

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